Ethereality
by IInvierno
Summary: After a battle with Naraku, Kagome is severly injured and disappears. Meanwhile, Renkotsu undergoes a change due to a strange jewel shard. Yearning for more power he seeks out a nameless miko and discovers a twisted fact. Ren/Kag


A/N: I'm back-_ish_! I've got a whole new story and I'm hoping that you guys like it. For those of you reading this and wondering about _Impervious_ don't worry. I haven't forgotten about it. I'm just at a blah with it right now, if that makes any sense lol. Coming back after two years and trying to pick up a story is not all that easy. But anyways this is a Renkotsu/Kagome story, it's something new that I wanted to try out and well here's the result. Hope you like!

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**Ethereality  
**By: IInvierno

'Inuyasha's wench can sense the jewel shards.'

This thought struck the Shichinintai member severely, permanently etching itself into his power hungry brain. The fire user continued to look on at the scene that played before his eyes.

In the clearing before him the leader of the Shichinintai, Bankotsu, lay slain. His halberd, however, was still clutched in his hands. Inuyasha and his comrades were still alive, but worn down greatly. Naraku and his incarnations stood opposite of them also retaining damage but not as much. Crimson blood splotched all around them almost becoming one with the dense grass it lay on. The early summer humidity only added to the ambiance of the battle field.

"Naraku you bastard! What did you do to Kikyo?" exclaimed the beaten hanyou. His hard, golden eyes tinted with ruby as he brought his Tetsusaiga in front of him preparing to attack.

The only sign that Naraku was going to respond was the barely noticeable smirk that appeared on his sinister face. "I simply returned her to where she belonged," he replied. His silky voice washed over them like a fountain of poison.

'So the miko Kiko is dead. This means that only that girl can sense the jewel shards now,' Renkotsu concluded, the beginnings of a plan materializing in his head.

"Kanna." To those on the battle field it was a simple statement. However, they soon realized that it was in fact a command. The pale girl came forth and her mirror began to glow. The silver haired hanyou was the first to take action and after the well-known announcement unleashed the wind scar. Naraku's ghostly incarnation stood unflinching as the attack was absorbed into her tiny mirror, though suddenly she was knocked to the ground as the large fang collided with her shoulder.

"Die Naraku!" he roared as he blindly charged at the wicked half-demon before him.

"Foolish hanyou," Naraku breathed. A large, dark sphere of energy emerged from his palm and ascended toward the shard hunters.

'Oh no the shard!' Kagome thought frantically and swiftly ran toward the dead Shichinintai leader. She hurriedly picked up the tainted jewel, but before she was able to completely purify it she was forcefully thrown backward.

Smoke filled the clearing and the surrounding trees were uprooted and thrown through the air wildly.

'Stupid bitch. Doesn't she know that the shikon no tama is far too powerful to be destroyed by a simple blast?' the fire user mused indifferently.

The smoke slowly began to clear and with every lift a horrifying picture was left behind. The shard hunters lay seemingly lifeless on the crimson grass beneath them. More blood was added to the bloody field from the large gashes and cuts that were bonded to their grimy skin.

"Ka-kagome," Inuyasha staggered as he unsteadily pushed himself up from the ground, his hand outstretched towards where the young miko had been tossed. As he came closer to his destination he looked upon the worst image of them all. Kagome's skin was marred just as much as the others, but a fist sized hole punctured through her flat abdomen. Her chest heaved rapidly and her eyes were wide with pain.

"Kago-" he said again, but was cut off by a wave of pain in his chest. Everything froze as Inuyasha's body became limp around Naraku's claws. His golden eyes void of emotion fell close and Naraku extracted his claws and threw his body aside.

Without another word sickening miasma surrounded the area and Naraku was gone, the only trace of him being his pale, abandoned incarnate.

Renkotsu stared at the sight in front of him with little emotion. 'Pitiful. Naraku is a-' his thoughts were interrupted as something in the clearing caught his attention. Naraku's incarnate Kanna limped towards the young miko, her mirror firmly clutched in her grasp.

The fire mercenary looked on with curiosity and slight bewilderment as the ghostly child kneeled next to the miko whose heaving chest had begun to decelerate. The two unexpectedly began to glow and shortly after disappeared.

Renkostu would have stayed in his hiding place longer to dwell in his stupor, but he noticed Naraku's insects had come to retrieve Bankotsu's jewel shard. He quickly disposed of them, placed the jewel shard in a tiny sack secured to his hip, and left the dreadful clearing.

--

"Interesting," the last Shichinintai member stated dryly as he gazed at the jewel fragment he held between his slender fingers. It was a piece of the shikon no tama no doubt, but something was uncanny about it. He didn't know what it was, but he knew something was different about this one.

'It doesn't matter. Whatever plan I may come up with is going to involve the shikon no tama,' he concluded and with that proceeded to push the jewel fragment into his forehead.

Renkotsu's eyes widened sharply and he crumpled to the ground. A strangled groan ripped from his throat as he clutched his scarf-adorned skull shaking wildly. He felt as if his insides were being burned, another groan was unleashed from his throat as he slipped into unconsciousness.

--

The previously disturbed mercenary lay sprawled out on the ground in the small, enclosed clearing he was in. He wearily opened his eyes to stare at the tall trees and the shining moon towering over him.

Numerous thoughts of the earlier events that took place swarmed his head. As he pushed himself upright he noticed something fall over his shoulders. He almost lashed out at the foreign object until he realized that what lay on his shoulder was hair.

He tugged at the wad of hair and was faintly stunned when he felt a strange sensation coming from his head. Releasing the hair, he gracefully stood up and walked over to the pond that had been situated next to him.

His lips slightly parted as he gazed upon his reflected image in the almost-murky water. Ebony tresses cascaded from underneath his now loose scarf atop his head, stopping at his waist. The markings on his face were present but smaller, stopping just below his eyes instead of to his forehead as they had been. The marking on his forehead and everything else had remained as it had been.

Renkotsu's lips curved delicately and he turned away from the reflected image of himself. 'I wonder what else the shikon no tama's power has given me,' he thought casually as he continued through the forest.

--

"Ye shouldn't dwell out here for long it is chilly enough for ye to become sick," the old miko suggested stepping out of the hut she called her home. It was the middle of fall and the wind had begun to pick up in the last couple of days, while the temperature dropped.

"Thank you for your concern Kaede. I will resign shortly," the cursed houshi replied calmly, his back remained faced toward her.

The aged miko only nodded and returned inside the hut.

'We haven't heard anything from Naraku in all this time since the battle, which must mean that he is up to something. The more we wait, the higher his chances of success are. We have to continue searching for him,' he contemplated. 'Even without Inuyasha and Kagome,' he added painfully.

With his mind made up, Miroku turned around and stepped into Kaede's hut.

--

Renkotsu vaguely sneered due to the assault of smells that bombarded his nose. Along with the things he acquired from the strange jewel fragment embedded in his head all of his senses had been heightened, not one of his more favored abilities he obtained. As he approached the small village he had been seeking, the smells merely continued their assault. He had been led here by rumors of a nameless miko said to be able to sense the sacred jewel shards.

In the time since the battle he had made sure to kill only when necessary. He didn't want word of his existence getting out just yet. Instead of destroying a village for supplies (which he rarely needed) or a place to sleep he would act as a commoner, which meant buying, standing in lines, and sometimes talking to the villagers. Yet, for him this also meant tolerating their pathetic presences.

Before he could persist with his thoughts, he was cut off by an ear piercing scream. He took notice that he was in fact standing right outside the village and that a large black lizard youkai with acid-like saliva dripping from its sharp toothed mouth stood over it. Renkotsu simply stared at the scene apathetically, a pleased look plastered on his face. But, his eyes widened a little and the pleased look fell from his face when he saw an almost all white figure standing before the youkai.

"Miko!" a village woman exclaimed happily as the woman stepped before the raging youkai.

The miko looked like neither a woman nor a child, probably in her late teens. She had eerily pale but familiar skin. A long pure white braid spilled down to the back of her knees. She was clad in an all white yukata, making a necklace with a small orb at the end of it that she wore stand out to him. She looked almost like a ghost, if one believed in such thing. Though the young miko looked shockingly familiar to him, the thing that awed him the most was the mirror that was firmly held in her petite hands.

Renkotsu was so distracted drinking in the image of the miko that he didn't notice that the now damaged lizard youkai, advanced towards the miko who still clutched the mirror even though she was on the ground. His eyes appeared to fog over leaving only glowing purple to show. Something began to materialize in his hands and without any warning a purple crackling fireball soared toward the youkai, obliterating it on contact.

Renkotsu's eyes returned to normal and he turned around to meet the gaze of the pallid miko. Realization struck him as he stared into the sapphire eyes of the young miko before him.

"Inuyasha's wench."

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So what cha think? Well I hope you like. I worked really hard on this one and I have great ideas for this story. **PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!** Whether it be a flame, a comment, constructive criticism or whatever I'd still greatly appreciate it. Oh, and btw does anyone know what color Renkotsu's eyes are?


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